In the many years before you were born, women have accomplished so much. Once unable to vote, disallowed from choosing the individuals they were to marry, and even barred from entering many professional fields, women rose up to fight for their place in the world. These women have made major headway, but the fight is not over. It’s my turn to fight for you, and teach you how to fight for yourself.

You are going to encounter people who believe you are not capable of achieving your dreams. These are small people with small ideas, and they don’t know who you really are. It’s my duty to equip you with the tools you need to show them, and help you prove them wrong every step of the way. I will not shield you from the dark side of society in which these people live. Instead, I will show you where they are, and remind you every day that your moral character and emotional strength are far more powerful than their words.

I will support you in every decision that you make, even if it’s not a decision that society expects of you. Some women have children and stay home. Some don’t have children, and choose to work. Some women have children and juggle their career. There is no sole way to be – the choice you make needs to be the choice that leads you to fulfillment. I won’t ever let anyone bully you into thinking that your decisions are inadequate or unacceptable. All I will ever expect of you is that you do everything you do to the fullest of your ability.

I will never let you hold yourself to the impossible standards set for you by the mainstream media. These standards mean nothing, and I won’t let you bend and break to them. Whether you want to become the world’s greatest hairdresser or a leading professor in the STEM fields, I will make sure you’re choosing your future based on your own intuition, rather than the pressure being placed on you by external sources who don’t know your soul.

Most importantly, I will demonstrate to you the importance of traits that really count for something. The traits that will help you make a life for yourself. It will always be more important to be strong and educated than it will to be traditionally beautiful and graceful.

You will encounter people in your life who may tell you that you are neither beautiful nor graceful, and I will give you the wisdom to know that what they have to say will never matter. They aren’t responsible for your success – you are. And that’s the greatest gift you could possibly receive. The world is your oyster, and those naysayers are the barnacles at your feet.

I will teach you to be comfortable and strong in your own skin. To love whoever you are, whenever you come to be. I will teach you that there is no wrong way to be a woman, and no right way to conform. You will always be allowed to be you, and I will treasure you for it. When things get rough, you’ll always have a soft place to fall in my arms until you’re ready to rebound stronger than you were before.

With all of my love,

Your Future Mother.

Kate Thora is a Senior Content Specialist for Uphours, an online resource with information about businesses worldwide. Her artistic soul manifests itself also in her love for singing and dancing, especially to traditional Indian music. Follow her on Twitter @katethora1